To many hot-blooded car enthusiasts, the onset of a future with purely electric cars is just as bad as the end of the world as we know it.
For these people, EVs are a net negative for their worldview, but amongst the electric non-believers is a surprising spokesperson whose embrace of electric vehicles can come off as ironic considering the source.
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Contrary to common stereotypes about car enthusiasts, former Tonight Show host and car collector Jay Leno has maintained an optimistic stance on electric and alternative fuel cars for a very long time, and recently defended his view on a recent podcast appearance.
EV trajectory is 'a bit like music,' says Jay Leno
In a prolonged discussion on the June 12, 2024 episode of Donut Media's The Big Three podcast, Leno praised EVs and likened the negative opinion of the vehicles by car enthusiasts of "his generation" to music preferences between generations of people.
“It's a bit like music. For years, rap was not recognized in the same way rock and roll was not recognized," Leno told the hosts. "In the early 50s they didn’t give Grammys to rock and roll artists because that was like kids music; what they used to call ‘race music,’ ‘negro music,’ it was a whole separate category and of course that ridiculousness is all gone now. It had to earn legitimacy.”
“It’s all still music, but I know rock and roll guys that hate rap and I know rap guys that hate rock and roll, but I think if you like music; it’s the same thing with automobiles. I get it, I like all types of cars.”
In his post-Tonight Show media career, Jay Leno can be found on the Jay Leno's Garage YouTube channel. In weekly videos from his Burbank garage, he showcases and drives a diverse array of automobiles. At the time of writing, Leno's car channel has 3.65 million YouTube subscribers with each video regularly garnering hundreds of thousands of views.
Occasionally, Leno will feature an EV or a plug-in hybrid, whether it be the latest from Tesla, Rivian or Chevrolet's clever Corvette E-Ray hybrid sports car, which sometimes leaves a bitter taste with some enthusiasts in his audience.
“People get mad at me, [they say] ‘you’ve got another EV on your show, I’m not watching Jay Leno’s garage anymore.’ Well okay, don’t watch, but next week, we’ll have a gas car, we’ll have something you might like. You can’t do the same thing every week,” Leno said on the podcast.
“To me, I think the EV will be the savior of the cars like this [gas cars, classic cars] because these classic cars; they do use more gas and they pollute, but their percentage gets smaller and smaller. If everyone is driving an EV, it’s not so much pressure to get gas cars off the road. I consider it a good thing.”
More Business of EVs:
- New study suggests EVs are supercharging an impending environmental crisis
- GM President has bold plans for an iconic sports car's EV resurrection
- Ford CEO says this iconic model will "never" be an EV
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Leno's praise for EV and alternative fuels isn't a recent development
Leno's praise for EVs does not come from an unfounded place. As the owner of EVs ranging from the Tesla Model S Plaid to the 1909 Baker Electric, Leno has expressed much praise for electric vehicles in the past.
On a 2019 appearance on The Exchange on CNBC, Leno praised his experience with a Tesla, declaring that "there's almost no reason to have a gas car."
"I predict a child born today probably has as much chance of driving in a gas car as people today have driving a car with a stick shift,” said Leno. “They’ll still be around. There’s just not many of them.”
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Leno is also an advocate for cars powered by alternative fuels.
On a December 2008 segment of the British television car show Top Gear, presenter James May asked the former Tonight Show host for a "California motorist's" view on the hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity, to which he praised the car and its purpose beyond being a car powered by hydrogen.
"Car enthusiasts think 'oh, this is going to be awful;' no it won't. It will save the petrol, it will save your MG, or your [Austin-Healy] Sprite or your [MG] Midget, or whatever you have," Leno said. "You go out on the weekend, you have fun and you put this [the FCX Clarity] in the car park during the week."
"[It is] much like, the automobile was the savior of the horse. In the cities, at least in America, horses would be whipped and they would drop dead. When the car came along, it freed up the horse to be used for recreational purposes and just the beauty of the animal or whatever you wanna call it."
"These type of cars will be the savior of our sports cars, our MGs, Porsches, things like that."
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